The prior art methods of reclaiming gold values from jewelry and electronic scrap and dore involves dissolution of the gold and alloying metals and subsequent reduction of the gold-containing solution to obtain metallic gold. Dissolution of gold scrap produces large quantities of waste solutions especially when cyanide is used. Current EPA regulation requires treatment of these waste solutions prior to disposal which is both expensive and time consuming. We have invented a process for purifying gold scrap to produce very high purity gold which does not involve the use of cyanide nor the dissolution of the gold in the scrap and dore. In our process, alloying metals are stripped away from the gold using a moderately high temperature chlorination. The alloying metals are converted into metal chlorides which can be removed by dissolution in water, dilute hydrochloric acid and ammonium hydroxide and traces of silver are removed using a final nitric acid wash.
The process of this invention can be used to obtain high purity gold from dore, the impure gold obtained as an intermediate gold product in the recovery of gold from gold containing ores. The process provides a method of separating and recovering both gold and silver values when silver is the alloying metal or part of alloying metals in the gold alloy being purified.